Have You Seen This? Former Utah teacher makes Irish step dancing cool again

(Brian Doherty/Screen grab)


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THE EMERALD ISLE — I have a very vague childhood memory surrounding Irish step dancing. I remember watching a TV special where a synchronized line of unfathomably focused dancers' legs moved inhumanly fast while their upper bodies maintained the stillness of Bernie Lomax. It was like the opposite of watching a lava lamp but with the same hypnotic appeal.

While "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance" may have hit their peak popularity in the 90s, there's no denying the cool factor in a recently released viral video with Utah ties.

Irishman Kieran Hardiman, a former dance instructor at Utah's Scariff School of Irish Dance in Sandy, uploaded a dance collaboration featuring him, Ciaran Plummer and Alan Kenefick, who also choreographed the dance. The video, titled "Freedom," popped up on Hardiman's channel in July and has garnered over 300,000 views in just over a week.

> [](https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155854975495080)Check out "Freedom" - A collaboration between myself, Alan Kenefick and Ciaran Plummer filmed by Brian Doherty. > > Posted by [Kieran Hardiman](https://www.facebook.com/kieran.hardiman.9) on Friday, July 24, 2015


So what makes this Irish step dance video so great?

First, it begins with a sound bite from one of the greatest movie speeches of all time — Charlie Chaplin's monologue in "The Great Dictator."

"Soldiers!" Chaplin says while famously parodying Adolf Hitler in the 1940 classic. "Don't give yourself to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel!"

Are you pumped? I'm already pumped.

And it only gets better.

Hardiman, Plummer and Kenefick then begin their percussive and mesmerizing step dancing to the cool electronica vibes of Glitch Mob's hard-hitting and decidedly non-Irish song "Mind of a Beast."

Oh, and did I mention Kenefick wears a Michael Jackson T-shirt during the performance?

I'm running out of cool points to give out to these guys.

The interweaving of a classic art form with modern elements, like the electronic music and stylish cinematography, makes "Freedom" compelling. Not completely abandoning its roots, the video was filmed on the grounds of University College Cork, a 170-year-old institution in Ireland.

Hardiman, who started dancing when he was 9-years-old, is currently touring with Celtic Steps The Show, according to his Facebook page.

Kenefick is a dancer/choreographer, and Plummer is currently dancing for "Lord of the Dance."

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to annoy my neighbors by trying to learn the choreography. I'll probably just end up looking like I'm trying to unsuccessfully stomp on an army of flaming cockroaches.

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